B.N. : Carica papaya L. Family. Caricaceae. Origin :Tropical America.


Papaya (Carica papaya) produces fruits throughout the year. It requires less area for tree, comes to fruiting in a year, is easy to cultivate and provides more income/ha next to banana. It has a high nutritive and medicinal value. Papain prepared from dried latex of its immature fruits is used in meat tenderising, manufacture of chewing gum, cosmetics, for degumming natural silk and to give shrink resistance to wool. Besides, it is also used in pharmaceutical industries, textile and garment cleaning paper and adhesive manufacture, sewage disposal, etc.